Battle of the River Plate, The Page #8

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Good morning, Your Excellency.

Here he is, Mr Millington-Drake.

Thank you, Miss Shaw.

Will you leave us, please?

His Excellency

the British Ambassador in Buenos Aires.

Take care off the enemys's ears.

Well...

Here goes my professional reputation.

What is going on at that end?

Is that you Millington-Drake?

- McCall here, sir.

- Ah, You McCall. Yes?

- An emergency has arisen over the Graf Spee.

- Careful McCall. Security.

I know, sir, but this is most urgent.

- I have just heard by Admiralty code.

- We're not on a scrambler, you know...

- That two of our capital ships...

- Are you mad? I'm going to hang up.

Sir, I must insist.

In this case, urgency overrides security.

Urgency overrides security?!

We, we. Go on. Go on.

Both these capital ships will be calling

in the next few hours at Bahia...

- I've told you before! This is not...

- ...at Bahia Blanca to refuel.

McCall!

They be down to the last drop

when they arrive.

Stop it! Stop it!

They've steamed at full speed for the Plate,

for obvious reasons.

The fellow's raving mad.

They request that we arrange

for 2,000 tons of fuel...

Really McCall!

- You must...

- ...of fuel oil to be available

in tankers as from tonight.

Very well.

Very well, McCall.

Yes, we got your message.

The afternoon papers will be out soon.

Knowing how leaky the telephone cables are

between here and Buenos Aires,

I'shall expect to see the headlines screaming

that half the British fleet are off Punta del Este.

Excuse me, senorita.

Could you translate this for me?

The lighthouse keeper at Punta del Este

reports that the battleship Barham

- and other powerful units of the British fleet

have joined Admiral Harwood's squadron.

- Thank you.

That lighthouse keeper

must have very good eyesight.

The Barham's in dry dock at Gibraltar.

- Mr Millington-Drake.

- Sir?

Why are your agents

now trying to delay the sailing of the Graf Spee?

Explain this change of attitude.

Your Excellency, it's not a change of attitude.

No?

No. It's a change of strategy.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is Sunday morning, 10:15,

17th December, the day upon which

the time limit set for the Graf Spee will expire.

To be precise, at 8 pm local time, she must sail

or the Uruguayan Government will intern her.

Now, the situation is far from clear,

for we're witnessing the departure

of a French merchant vessel, the Cote d'Azur.

According to the neutrality law

a merchant ship must be given 24 hours' notice

or 24 hours' grace

before an enemy warship can sail after her.

So, it seems that if the Graf Spee sails

or doesn't sail, she's breaking the law.

It's rumoured that outside the mouth

of the Rio de la Plata

there are five or possibly seven British warships

waiting for her.

Another rumour says the Germans

are bringing up reinforcements,

so a naval battle even greater

than Wednesday's is imminent.

We all figured the Graf Spee would make a run for

it under cover of darkness but she's still here.

Her Captain Hans Langsdorff has worked all

night with the local Nazi Diplomatic Authorities

towards one of Germany's

most important decisions since the war began.

Will they take this vessel

out of the haven of the River Plate?

If not, she'll be interned, my boy.

Will they make a dash for Buenos Aires?

Will it be a fight to the death?

To get shot up

wouldn't be very good propaganda.

I wonder how Goebbels would explain that.

Nobody knows, an hour ago Captain Langsdorff returned to his

ship. He had spent nearly three hours ashore.

The German Minister Dr Langmann

accompanied him to the quay

and as they shook hands

was heard to say "until tomorrow."

He said it in German

I'm giving you a translation.

Mr Beasley of the Trevanion.

And Captain Dove of the Africa Shell.

I've seen you before.

Oh?

When?

In the Graf Spee. With this.

Lined up on deck

when Langmann came on board for the funeral.

- That's right.

- I see you all went to it.

- Yes, we all went.

- We wanted to.

I can understand that.

In a way, you were shipmates.

- It must have been a terrifying experience.

- My monkey certainly thought so.

- You're well out of it.

- Yes.

I shouldn't like to have known

you were on board when she sails.

Do you think she'll try to break out, sir?

Well, you know her captain better than we do.

He'll fight.

He's a good seaman.

Flash! This is Mike Fowler,

reporting to you from Montevideo.

The latest rumour is that the Graf Spee

may be granted an extension of time.

It's a bright sunny day here in Montevideo.

Very sunny indeed.

The visibility's about 20 miles

but the British warships are out of sight.

It is now absolutely definite

that no less than 13 Allied warships

including the battleship Renown

and the carrier Ark Royal are waiting outside.

The same question is on everybody's lips.

Will the Graf Spee dare to come out?

Come here.

Buzz off, Swanston.

From our ambassador in Buenos Aires.

Strong rumour current here

that the Graf Spee will sail tonight.

So, she is coming out.

Is she?

What would you do if you had the Graf Spee

under your command?

Well, I'd come out as soon as it was dark,

try and dodge the ships waiting for me outside

and get to the open sea again.

If I failed to dodge them, I'd fight to a finish.

Isn't that what you'd do, sir?

Sounds simple.

I wonder if it sounds that simple to Langsdorff.

- Why not?

- He's got plenty of headaches.

Headache number one, he doesn't know

what force we've got out here.

Headache number two,

he can let himself be interned in Montevideo,

but Uruguay might come into the war later on,

on our side,

and then the Graf Spee

would fall into our hands.

He might make a dash for Buenos Aires,

but the channel's narrow.

- And shallow.

- And muddy.

If he fouls up his water intake,

he'll be a sitting duck.

Yes.

He'll come out.

When do you think he'll move?

Now.

In the next 15 minutes.

That's when I'd weigh anchor.

Let's go and see.

Captains of warships, my dear Woodie,

are not only naval officers.

What we do or don't do is being constantly

interpreted one way or another

by friends and enemies... or neutrals.

If we sink her,

it can only be interpreted one way.

I'm not so sure. Think a bit, Heart Of Oak.

If we open fire within the River Plate,

we'll be accused of violating neutral territory.

Think what little Goebbels will make of it.

Well, it's up to you, sir.

Yes. Thank you very much.

Hello. Hello. This is Mike Fowler

reporting once again

from my ringside seat at Montevideo.

I had to go off the air just now

because the crowd was so immense,

they broke my microphone cable.

Thanks to the gallant police of Uruguay

order has been restored,

and the line has been repaired.

There's two for you. Lays it on thick, doesn't he?

As you know the time limit set for the Graf Spee

was 8 pm local time this evening.

It is now 7:
50.

Ten minutes to go.

It's hard to describe the scene here

as tension mounts by the minute.

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